A/N - I know, another new story. What the hell am I thinking? Yada yada. I blame my friends in Midnight Lost's discord server. Talking with them keeps bringing new ideas to the front of my mind and I can't help but want to write it all down.
Anyways, with this story, I've sorta merged the worlds of Naruto and Final Fantasy XIII into one world. It's not exactly a combined world, but there's a lot of elements from both series that are in this story. The technology is more advanced than it normally would be in the Narutoverse, for instance. On top of that, there's the fal'Cie and the l'Cie and yada yada.
I'm rather tired, so I'm not gonna go into too much detail here. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 1 – Becoming l'Cie
A 16 year-old Naruto Uzumaki stood staring at something completely dumbfounded. He couldn't help but wonder what the fuck was going on! What was the problem, you might ask? Well, he was staring at one of the veritable gods of the world. You see, throughout the Elemental Nations, in each of the major hidden villages, resided a fal'Cie that governed all things. Everyone worshipped them as gods and nobody truly questioned their existence. However, as with all things big and mysterious, these beings known as the fal'Cie were still complete mysteries to the people of the Elemental Nations.
There was no clue that told anyone where these beings came from or what their true purpose was. All people knew is that for as long as anyone could possibly remember, the fal'Cie had always simply existed. The villages were built around them, partly to protect them from any potential harm, and partly to be closer to their gods so they could worship them properly.
Now, however, chaos had erupted in the village of Konoha. Kumogakure had managed to get some of their shinobi into the village with inside help, though nobody knew who had guided them past all their security measures. Now these foreign shinobi were attempting to kill their god, the fal'Cie Ifrit. Ifrit gifted the village of Konoha with bright, sunny days, keeping the weather peaceful, and only occasionally blessing the village with rain. The people's days were always peaceful under Ifrit's rule, and people paid homage to the god every day.
How did Naruto factor into this mess? Well, he had just recently earned his forehead protector and was celebrating his graduation, finally, after all these years spent in that wretched academy! Naruto and his best buddy Sazh Katzroy were drinking sake together and generally just chatting away about a variety of things, such as what Naruto would be up to from this point on and who he thought might be on his team. However, when they heard about a group of shinobi from Kumogakure invading the sanctity of their home, the two of them ventured out together to try and put a stop to them before they could harm anyone, especially the Hokage and their fal'Cie.
Sazh may be just a civilian, but even they had the ability to fight these days. You see, technology had expanded and improved greatly under the fal'Cie's guidance. Unique weapons such as gunblades and machine guns had been created and mass-produced throughout the Elemental Nations. These weapons were supposed to be used to protect themselves and their homes from enemies, but they tended to be used maliciously, rather than productively. Such is the case with these ninja from Kumogakure.
Sazh carried a couple of unique guns that he could put together to form an assault rifle if needed. Naruto, on the other hand, kept kukri blades that were strapped to his hips on either side. He had two so he could dual-wield them as necessary, and he had already proven to be quite deadly with them, as evidenced by when he fought Mizuki just days ago after the man turned traitor and attempted to frame Naruto for what he had attempted to pull.
Naruto and Sazh knew their own limitations, so they wouldn't try anything crazy. However, they knew it was their duty as soldiers and citizens of Konohagakure to protect their fal'Cie if need be, and so they took action. Hurrying to the fal'Cie's temple, if you could even call such a technologically advanced structure such a thing, they entered and began making their way deeper inside to hopefully put a stop to the Kumogakure infiltrators.
As they ventured deep inside the temple, they couldn't help but take notice of deformed creatures wandering about. They had to fight and kill these things, but they truly had no idea what the hell they were dealing with in here! And they had yet to come across a single Kumogakure shinobi! Something was very wrong with this whole picture, but they couldn't quite tell what the hell it was. So, exercising caution, they proceeded deeper, making sure to watch each other's backs.
After some time, they nearly bumped into a young woman that looked to be about Naruto's age, along with a slightly older woman with spiky black hair, wearing a blue outfit that resembled a sari, or Indian-style dress. Getting a good look at the striking beauty before him, Naruto had to say that it was a rather revealing outfit.
Meanwhile, the girl that was about his age, possibly a year or two younger, was an absolute knockout. She had bright red hair, green eyes, and stood a number of inches shorter than Naruto. While her friend wielded a lance, Vanille wielded a strange type of weapon known as a binding rod. It used high-tensile wires to attack from a moderate distance using the clawed tips at the end of the rod. And, just like her friend's attire, Vanille's was rather revealing as well.
Naruto and Sazh didn't know who they were, but considering they didn't seem to be an immediate threat, Naruto decided to ask, "Umm, what are you two doing here? And who are you exactly?"
Vanille smirked at him and asked, "Isn't it usually polite to introduce yourself first before you ask such a thing?"
Chuckling a bit, Naruto nodded and said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and this is my friend Sazh Katzroy. We came to stop the intruders from Kumogakure."
Vanille smiled brightly at him and said, "See? Isn't that so much better? I'm Vanille and this is Fang. We're citizens of Konoha as well. We heard about the invaders and came to stop them."
Fang grinned and threw an arm around Vanille's shoulders. "She failed to mention that we're kunoichi of the village. Kind of off-duty at the moment, but we couldn't just let these people have their way with our fal'Cie. If you're here for the same purpose we are, we should work together. Now come on." She said before taking charge and leading them further inside.
As they moved along, they ended up having to fight even more of those strange monsters. They weren't exactly difficult to defeat, but something about them was troubling Naruto deeply. "Fang-san, what are these things?"
Fang sighed as she looked at Naruto sadly. "These are what's known as Cie'th. Fal'Cie tend to brand Humans as l'Cie to act out their will in times of need. L'Cie are given something called a Focus that they must fulfill. If the l'Cie fails in their given mission, they turn into what you have seen here: Cie'th. If l'Cie complete their mission, on the other hand, they became encased in crystal and slumber for years until they are needed once again. Sometimes a person can sleep in stasis like that for hundreds of years."
Naruto blinked a couple of times as he tried to process what he had just been told. After a moment, he nodded slowly and said, "I see. As much as I like the fal'Cie, I think I'd rather pass on being branded a l'Cie, thank you very much."
Fang and Vanille giggled as they nodded in agreement. "Most never ask to be branded. They just are. Now come on, we need to stop those Kumo ninja before something terrible happens."
As they ventured deeper into the temple, gradually climbing higher and higher as they did, they soon began to hear the sounds of combat from nearby, as well as screams that signified the death of whomever was losing the fight.
Hurrying ahead, they turned a corner and saw a woman wielding a weapon known as a gunblade and what looked to be her sister who was using a weapon known as a bowsword. It had two distinct forms: a long, sharp blade, and the compact bow and arrows that she was currently using. Together, these two kunoichi of Konohagakure were slaying the Kumogakure ninja that had obviously been caught by the two of them.
Once the enemy shinobi were dead, Naruto and the others approached the two women, allowing them to get a better look at them. The first woman was tall, being just slightly taller than Naruto was. She had pink hair and striking aqua-colored eyes and was dressed in typical kunoichi attire with a Jonin flak jacket and her forehead protector tied to her left arm.
The other girl also had pink hair and beautiful blue eyes. She stood slightly shorter than Naruto and wore a standard outfit as well with a Chunin flak jacket and her forehead protector tied loosely around her neck. She was smiling at the group and even offered them a friendly wave. Her older sister, on the other hand, simply stared at them apathetically before turning and walking off.
The shorter of the two pink-haired girls sighed and offered them an apologetic smile. "Sorry, my sister isn't the talkative type. She might come off as abrasive and even rude sometimes, but she means well. Oh! I suppose I should tell you our names, right? I'm Serah Farron and she's my sister Claire. Kunoichi of Konohagakure and ready to kick some butt! Um, who are all of you?"
Before anyone could offer up a reply, Claire scowled and said, "Introductions can wait until later. The fal'Cie is still in danger. Hurry up!"
Fang frowned momentarily as she looked from Claire to Serah. "Abrasive indeed." She said with a chuckle. Rather than let it get to her, she walked past Serah and began to climb ever higher with Claire.
Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head before offering Serah an awkward smile. "Well, we should probably get going too. C'mon." he said, walking with the remaining team members as they proceeded deeper into the temple.
After some more time had passed, Naruto heard a familiar voice exclaim, "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Blinking in shock for a moment, Naruto hurried past the others and, upon emerging in the room up above, saw the Snake Mistress of Konoha: Anko Mitarashi. She and another kunoichi by the name of Tenten were fighting off the remaining members of the Kumogakure infiltration team.
Deciding not to leave it all to them, Naruto and the others hurried forward and took the Kumo ninja by surprise. Before his chosen target could react in any way, Naruto slashed his kukri in a horizontal line, easily cutting through the man's neck and sending his head flying. As blood sprayed from his headless body, Naruto turned to another Kumo ninja, this time a kunoichi, and prepared to do battle with her. However, as he approached her, her eyes widened and she quickly dropped her weapon before kneeling down and begging, "Please! Don't kill me! I didn't even want to do this! Raikage-sama was so insistent on destroying your village's fal'Cie that he threatened to have my family killed if I didn't cooperate. Some of us were given a choice like that while the majority decided that it was a good chance to strike at your village and deal some lasting damage. I promise, I mean you no harm!"
Frowning deeply, Naruto slipped away his kukri blades and walked up to her, gripping her hair tight and making her look him in the eyes. "And why should I believe you?"
The dark-skinned woman looked into his eyes and said, "I don't have any way to prove to you that I'm being honest. The only thing I can think of is to give you whatever information I can. Or…"
When the woman seemed hesitant to continue, Naruto growled for a moment before saying, "Or what? I'm waiting."
The woman sighed and closed her eyes. "I, Mabui of Kumogakure, hereby pledge myself to you as your faithful servant. Whatever you desire of me, it shall be yours."
Naruto blinked a couple of times in shock before shouting out, "What?! You don't need to go quite that far. I believe you! Okay?"
The beautiful, grey-haired woman found herself giggling, despite herself. Smiling at the young man before her, she said, "It's too late for that now Master. From now on, I'm yours. Now, mind telling me your name?"
The blonde slumped over, a figurative raincloud forming overhead. Shooting a quick glance around, he saw that everyone else had finished off their opponents and were now watching Mabui and him. Sighing, he looked back into Mabui's eyes and said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Konohagakure. I suppose there's no way to talk you out of doing this?"
The green-eyed woman simply smiled at him as she rose to her feet. "I'm afraid not. It's better than dying for a cause I don't believe in. I just have one favor to ask of you. Please help me save my family."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he thought it over. After a while, he said, "I'll do what I can. I can't make any promises for certain, but I will do whatever I can to extract your family from Kumogakure. I don't know when I'll be able to do it, but I'll try my damndest. However, once we've made sure Ifrit-sama's okay and we get out of here, I'm taking you straight to Hokage-sama. I expect you to tell us everything you know about this attack, what the general plan was, and everything you can tell us about Kumogakure and the Raikage's dealings. I want to know what he's planning exactly, and I want to know who his accomplices are. Understand?"
"Of course Naruto-sama. However, we should probably be careful when approaching the fal'Cie. If he feels threatened in any way, it could go very badly for all of us." Mabui said, frowning slightly as she said this.
"All right. Then we'll just have to be careful. Has anyone else gone on ahead of you?" Naruto questioned her.
Mabui frowned as she thought about it for a time. After a while, she shook her head and said, "I honestly don't know. I lost track of some of my comrades a while ago, so it's certainly possible that someone has reached the inner sanctum by now."
"Then we'd best hurry. Come on." Claire said as she led the party towards the inner sanctum where Ifrit waited.
As they walked, Tenten and Anko sidled up next to Naruto and smiled at him. "Good to see you Naruto. Finally earned your headband, huh?" Anko questioned with a grin on her face.
Naruto chuckled softly and nodded his head in confirmation. "Yep! Just had to stop a traitor from running off with the Scroll of Seals. Even got to learn a cool new jutsu from it as well. Maybe I'll show it to you later, hm?" he said, a grin on his face.
Anko couldn't help but smirk as she looked at her younger friend. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were coming onto me." She said teasingly.
The blonde blushed fiercely at that, but couldn't say anything in response. Instead, he felt a light punch to his left arm. Turning to look at Tenten, he asked, "What was that for?"
"Oh, just wanted to get your attention. Good job Naruto-kun. I'm proud of you." She said with a bright smile on her face.
"Thanks Ten-chan." He said before he eventually came to a stop. They had reached the inner sanctum, and lying on the ground before them, their bodies burned to a crisp, were two Kumogakure shinobi. Worried about the fal'Cie, Naruto approached cautiously and asked aloud, "Ifrit-sama? Are you okay?"
Claire's eyes widened as she hurried towards Naruto, screaming out, "Watch out!" but it was already too late. Ifrit became active and shot out multiple tentacles that grasped each of the shinobi within the room, leaving its mark upon them. For a while, all they could feel was a white hot pain that coursed throughout their bodies. Eventually, one by one they all started to scream as it felt like their bodies were on fire. When it was finally over, they opened their eyes again to see that they were no longer in the inner sanctum of Ifrit's temple.
Looking around at their surroundings, they found themselves lying still in the park. Groaning, they pushed themselves up and onto their feet again. They felt like they were in a daze as they tried to come to terms with everything that had just happened. Eventually, Sazh looked at where he had been touched, his right pectoral muscle. As soon as he saw the mark he had been branded with, he groaned and said, "Great. Juuust great. How am I supposed to raise Dajh now? Aren't we, as l'Cie, supposed to complete some kinda mission or something? I can't raise Dajh and roam the world at the same time! Damn."
Naruto frowned as he looked at the back of his right hand. Sure enough, he had the mark branding him as a l'Cie. Sighing softly, he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry guys. This is my fault…"
Claire glared at him and exclaimed, "You were warned to be careful! What the hell were you thinking?!"
As Naruto winced, Fang got in her face and shouted out, "He was concerned for Ifrit-sama! Same as the rest of us. Like it or not, we're l'Cie now. There's no use in bitching about it. Instead, we should try to find out what our Focus is and figure out some kind of battle strategy. Hopefully…" Sighing softly, the gorgeous woman shook her head and said, "Hopefully we can find some way to keep from turning into Cie'th or being encased in crystal for hundreds of years. Neither option sounds all that great to me."
Vanille, ever the optimist, said, "Right now, I don't think we should worry about it too much. We've got time to figure everything out, and I think we should put it to good use. I'm sure our Focus will become clearer over time, so let's just do as we've always done and try to get on with our lives. Whaddya say guys?"
Tenten sighed and hung her head. "Dammit. This is sooo not what I signed up for when I became a kunoichi of Konoha. How am I supposed to break this news to my team? "Oh, hey guys! I'm a l'Cie now! Got some kind of mission to take care of, so I'll be leaving the team for a while!" Ugh."
Naruto chuckled dryly and said, "It's okay guys. I'm…I'm truly sorry. Maybe if I had just left well enough alone, you'd all be okay. I promise I'll try to figure out what our Focus is. I'll do what I can to complete it, even if I have to do it alone. I got you guys into this, so it's only right I take care of it somehow. Hopefully you guys can figure out how to keep either result from happening."
Anko walked up to Naruto and smacked him in the back of the head hard. "Don't say things like that you stupid knucklehead! I don't mind this all that much. Hell, we'll get to spend a lot more time together, so that's a plus! Seriously though, we'll figure this Focus thing out and we'll even figure out some way to keep from turning into crystals. 'Sides, I'm not leaving you to do this alone. No matter what, you've got me on your side."
Before Naruto could say anything, Mabui walked up to him and placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder. "I've pledged myself to you, Naruto-sama. We'll be together until the end, no matter what may come. Though I do intend to hold you to your promise. Maybe with the power of a l'Cie, we can rescue my family easier. Who knows?"
Naruto smiled at the both of them and wiped away a few stray tears. "Thanks. That means a lot to me." He said before he turned to Sazh and said, "You gonna be okay Sazh?"
"Oh sure, I'll be just dandy. I gotta figure out what to do about Dajh. I can't leave him alone for long periods of time, so I'm just gonna have to figure something out. Perhaps I can ask Kurenai-san if she'd be willing to look after him? She seems fond of him." Sazh said, shrugging his shoulders. "Worth a shot, right?"
Anko grinned at him and said, "She'll do it if I ask her real nicely. Dajh will be in good hands, I promise."
Sazh smiled at Anko and nodded his head in thanks. "Thanks Missy. Ah well, what do we do now? Anyone got any suggestions?"
Serah looked around at everyone before settling her eyes on Claire. "Claire? Are you going to be all right?"
The older pink-haired woman scowled and looked scornfully at Naruto for a time. Releasing a heavy sigh after a while, she turned and smiled softly at her sister. "I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you."
Serah simply smiled and shook her head. "I'll be okay. Who knows? This might be kind of fun. If we're stuck like this, I'm glad it's with you, Sis. And we'll even have some friends along for the journey!"
Claire couldn't help but smile at her sister's optimism. Turning back to the others, she asked, "So, does anyone have any bright ideas they'd like to share with the class?"
Anko grinned and leaned against Naruto, hugging him close to the point his head was resting against her bountiful bosom. "Yep! Because he got us into this, accidentally of course, I nominate Naruto-kun here as our leader for this whole Focus mission thingy! 'Sides, I can't really picture any of the rest of us as leader material."
Claire narrowed her eyes into a glare first at Anko and then at Naruto. "Him? Our leader? You can't be serious?"
The Snake Mistress simply smiled and said, "I suppose you think you'd be better? Sorry, but you're kinda bitchy. I mean, I know I'm a bitch, but you tend to take it to the extreme. Kinda need somebody more charismatic to lead us, otherwise the group would just fall apart and we'd never complete our Focus."
"Gotta admit, Missy here's got a point. I'd much rather follow Naruto's lead than yours lady. Just from first impressions, you don't really strike me as the leader type. You've gotta admit, you're kind of abrasive and hard to get along with. And that's just from a first impression, mind you." Sazh said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Claire grumbled and palmed her face. "Wonderful. A Jonin of the village following the lead of its jinchuriki. How messed up can things get?" Needless to say, her comment earned her sharp glares from a number of the others there.
"What the heck is your problem with me anyways?" Naruto asked indignantly. "Yes, I screwed up and I'm sorry. But as far as I know, I haven't done anything to you that would warrant such harsh treatment."
The pink-haired woman sighed as she looked into his eyes. "You're a troublemaker that would rather goof off and play the part of the fool than take things seriously. You had the potential to be something great and to perhaps graduate at the top of your class if you truly put your mind to it, and you chose to squander your gifts. You…"
Before she could continue, Naruto held up a hand and said, "Stop." Seeing he now had her attention, Naruto looked hard into her eyes and said, "Do you know why I pretended to be an idiot and 'goof off' as you claim? No, you obviously don't. I decided to hide my real self and my abilities because of how the people view me. As you said, I'm the village's jinchuriki, the container of the Kyuubi no Yoko. The people shunned me, scorned me, and, if I showed any potential of any kind that might lead to me outshining their precious Uchiha, they'd beat me senseless."
Sighing softly, Naruto continued to stare into her eyes and continued. "I've always studied everything I could in secret. Most of the teachers in the academy would rather I turn out to be a dumb, moronic buffoon rather than become a serious shinobi. They'd rather I die on my first mission outside of the village so that the world would be rid of one more demon, as they assume I am."
"I knew what would happen if I showed myself to be even slightly intelligent. Gramps can only do so much to protect me, and even then, I know he's hiding things from me. He tried to hide the fact that I hold the Kyuubi within me. I had to find that out on my own when I was younger. And he's also hiding who my parents are. So I'll be honest, it's hard as hell to trust the guy." Naruto continued before holding up his hand to silence the various kunoichi around him. "I don't hate him and I won't betray the village, so don't even think about it."
Sighing again, Naruto looked around at the various people around him. "Iruka didn't care about me. He wasn't outright trying to sabotage me, but he did label me as a troublemaker and a problem child right away, despite the fact I hadn't even done anything yet. Mizuki, on the other hand, was actively trying to sabotage me. Hell, I could smell the scent of snakes on the guy and I knew for a fact he hadn't been dating you, Anko-chan. It was obvious from the get-go that he was a traitor to the village."
"Anyways, I decided that I'd go ahead and play the part of the fool and I'd intentionally throw spars so that people would continue to view me as a weak, pathetic up-and-coming shinobi. I managed to convince damn near everyone that I was just a fool with no potential. It kept the citizens of the village off my back so I could do what I needed to in secret. The only people I couldn't fool were Sazh here, the Ichiraku's, and the Hokage. When I informed Hokage-sama about the attempted sabotage, he decided to help me in his own way."
"The point I'm trying to make is that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I don't care if you want to follow my lead or not, I won't try to force the point. Hell, if you want to be the leader of this little operation of ours, I'll follow your lead. But you'll need to pull the foot-long stick out of your ass and treat us with a little respect. We're allies now and, like it or not, we're in this together. Yeah, I'll admit that it's pretty much my fault we're branded like this now. However, Ifrit-sama was probably frightened somewhat after the assault on his temple. But more than that, I have the feeling that Ifrit-sama saw something, perhaps a vision or a dream of some kind, that caused him to worry. We were made l'Cie because Ifrit-sama wants us to do something important, of that I'm 100% certain. Didn't you see the vision after we were branded?" Naruto said, a frown on his face.
Claire frowned deeply after listening to everything Naruto had just said. While she was a bit frustrated with him for implying that she was a cold-hard bitch, she couldn't really deny his assessment of her. She knew she was hard to get along with, but it was just how she was. Still, she looked deep into his eyes and nodded once. "Yes. Darkness and fire, something was wrong with the moon. But I didn't see much else. It was just a brief flash of an image before I regained consciousness here. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for judging you so harshly. I didn't realize…"
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "It's fine. I don't care. I'm willing to lead us if that's what everyone wants. But we need to speak with Hokage-sama first. This might directly interfere in our roles as shinobi of Konoha. We have to discuss what has happened with him and explain our new situation. Hopefully he'll have some idea about what we should do first."
Sazh sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he thought over what happened so far. "Don't know why I bothered getting involved in all this. I'm just a civilian. I don't think I was meant to deal with this crap."
The blonde chuckled a bit as he looked at his friend. "Too bad. Now come on, let's go see the old man."
Hokage's Office
Hiruzen sighed as he listened to the tale Naruto and the others had told him. He had deployed the Anbu to deal with the Kumogakure shinobi that had targeted businesses and citizens, but it had been left up to Naruto and his new friends to deal with those that got into the temple, much to his frustration. And learning that Naruto and the others had become l'Cie only made things worse. Frowning deeply, he looked into Naruto's eyes and asked, "Nothing can ever be normal with you, can it Naruto-kun?"
Naruto shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sure as hell seems that way. Anyways, what do you want to do about this l'Cie thing? We don't exactly know what our Focus is yet, but I think we've got time to figure it out. We won't turn into Cie'th right away after all."
Tenten frowned at this point and asked, "What do I do about my team? I don't want to just up and quit because of this. Besides that, the Chunin Exams are coming up later this year, right? I was planning to participate!"
The Third sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and fight back against the growing headache. "You'll remain on your team, Genin Tenten. And Naruto-kun, you still need to be placed on a team as well and study more in the ways of the shinobi. I'll try to assign you to a proper team that you can work well with, but I make no guarantees. You all will continue to follow through with your duties to the village. You aren't the first l'Cie this village has ever seen, and it can take years before you succumb to the fate of becoming a Cie'th. I remember one case back during the Second Ninja War that someone had to wait 7 years to complete their Focus. So just give it time, act like you normally would, and wait until your Focus becomes clearer to you. Understood?"
Everyone nodded at that before Serah asked another question. "Um, now that we're l'Cie, do you think we can train in our new abilities somewhere private? Maybe like the Forest of Death?"
Hiruzen nodded at her and said, "I was already planning to give you all permission to use Training Ground #44 as your designated training ground. It's the perfect place to practice your new magic and train together as a team. I also plan to give you all missions to complete to further test your new abilities. You need to learn how to function as a cohesive unit, after all. This means that you, Naruto-kun and Tenten, will have to balance your time between your normal teams and the new team you have found yourself in. Do you understand?"
Tenten and Naruto both nodded to signify that they understood. "Yes, sir! But…what do we tell our teams?" Tenten questioned unsurely.
"I'll inform your Jonin senseis about your situation. However, you are NOT to talk about this with your fellow Genin, not even those you're on a team with." Hiruzen said sternly. "Now, you may have decided that Naruto shall be the leader of your team, but…"
Naruto sighed and hung his head. "I know. I'm just a Genin and don't have the experience required, right?"
The aged Third Hokage sighed and said, "Yes. So until you either make the rank of Chunin or I deem you ready regardless of rank, I am placing Serah in charge of your team. I trust her to lead you all to success."
Serah blinked in confusion as she pointed a finger at herself. "Me? Why? I mean, I'll do it, I'm flattered, but Fang or Claire could do it. They have more experience than I do."
Hiruzen chuckled softly and shook his head. "You're more than qualified to lead this team until Naruto-kun is ready. I've read the reports and heard the praise from other shinobi about you and your abilities. They've even praised your leadership qualities. You'll be just fine. Does anyone object?"
Fang looked around at everyone before she turned back to the Hokage with a grin on her face. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "No problem here. Might be fun to see what she can do. I just know that this might actually be kind of fun in a way."
Claire scowled at this and shook her head. "We must have very different ideas of what 'fun' is." She muttered.
Vanille, sensing the tension building between Fang and Claire once again, smiled and waved her hands in front of her. "Time out! No arguing, no badmouthing each other, none of all that stuff. We should try and smile more. It might not be an ideal situation, but we can all be friends and enjoy ourselves for the time being. We should all get along. Okay everybody?"
Naruto smiled at Vanille and said, "Sounds like a plan to me. Anyways, I think it's time we have a little talk Gramps. You see, Mr. Furball told me who my parents are a while back. I want my inheritance."
Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly in horror before asking, "How long?"
"Kyuubi and I became friends a few years back. As a show of good faith, he showed me the events of that night, or rather those he could remember. Somebody wearing a mask with a Sharingan in his right eye freed the Kyuubi from my mother's seal and proceeded to place him under a powerful genjutsu, forcing him to go on a rampage in an attempt to destroy Konoha and potentially Ifrit-sama himself. My father freed the Kyuubi from the Sharingan's effects and proceeded to seal the Kyuubi inside of me." Naruto explained, purposely withholding certain bits of information. "The Kyuubi did deal the final, killing blow to my parents…when they tried to save me. You see, he didn't want to be sealed away again, so he attempted to kill me, a newborn baby. I haven't quite forgiven him for doing such a thing, but I can't say I hate him either. And yes, for those of you that didn't know, my father was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. My mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Death."
While the others' eyes widened in shock at this revelation, Hiruzen could only sigh heavily and rub his forehead in mild disbelief combined with frustration. "I'm sorry for keeping such information from you, Naruto-kun. I was worried about what revealing said information might cause."
"Sorry, but that excuse isn't going to fly with me Gramps. You felt I wasn't ready to know about my family…probably because you worried I'd go shouting it all over the village. You knew I was smarter than I let on. You knew I could keep a secret. And yet you still didn't trust me with the knowledge of my parentage. My concern about all of this is that the Elders would have tried to claim my inheritance for themselves. They're greedy assholes, after all. So at least that part I'll believe. But now, I expect you to give me my inheritance so I can move into my parents' estate. Besides that, Mabui-chan can't stay in my dingy apartment. It's not suited for more than one person, nor is it appropriate for a lady such as herself." Naruto said, a scowl on his face as he looked into the Hokage's eyes.
Before the Hokage could reply, Tenten exclaimed, "Wait, wait, wait! Are you telling me an Uchiha sicked the Kyuubi on the village?! What the hell?!"
Naruto chuckled a bit as he looked at her. "I'm kind of surprised at your lack of surprise regarding the fact I'm a jinchuriki. Then again, I suppose you probably already suspected it. But yes, an Uchiha unleashed the Kyuubi on Konoha."
Tenten blushed slightly in embarrassment, but she remained quiet. Instead, Hiruzen spoke up again. "The people won't like to hear that. It's unfortunate, but it's best that we keep such information from the people. And…I suppose this is as good a time as any to give you what's yours, Naruto-kun. Just give me a moment."
As the Hokage went about collecting what belonged to Naruto, Anko narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I think that's a stupid move, Hokage-sama. If the people knew an Uchiha was behind the attack, they'd stop spoiling that little brat that calls himself an 'elite' all the fucking time. He needs to face reality and learn that he isn't all that special. Itachi spared the runt on a whim and nothing more!"
Hiruzen sighed again and said, "Either they'd stop spoiling him, or they'd claim we were simply trying to slander his good name and refuse to believe the truth. Besides, we have no concrete proof that an Uchiha did release the Kyuubi. While some would certainly believe us, the populace would likely deny the truth vehemently and find some twisted reason to try and take it out on Naruto-kun. I'd rather not have that."
Anko frowned and said, "Well that just sucks. You'd think they'd be smarter than that."
Naruto frowned and said, "Something you need to understand Anko-chan is that, while a single individual can be intelligent, the people as a whole are a bunch of idiots. They become so set in their ways and believe wholeheartedly in their version of the truth that they refuse to see the real truth that's slapping them in the face." The Snake Mistress pouted at this, but didn't say anything.
Sazh walked up and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, smiling down at his friend. "Kid's got a point. People aren't exactly all that intelligent. They all fall into the same mindset and refuse to think for themselves. I've seen it plenty of times over the years. Anyways, looks like you've got everything. Where exactly is Naruto's new home located?"
The Third Hokage motioned for them to follow him. "Come, I'll show you the way. And Naruto, do be careful. A man named Danzo has been pushing even harder to turn you into a weapon, rather than treat you as a person. He's done some shady things in the past, and I'm certain there's far more evil deeds he's done that I don't know about. I have a feeling he's the one that helped the Kumo ninja invade the village. A few of them attempted to attack me even."
Fang scowled at the mention of Danzo. "That old fossil's been a problem for years. I'm amazed you haven't done anything about him yet Mr. Professor."
Hiruzen frowned and said, "If there was any proof of his evildoings he'd be dealt with immediately. However, he's too good at covering his tracks. I suspect he's kept Root active in secret, but without sufficient proof, my hands are tied. What I do know is that he'd do absolutely anything to take my position as Hokage. It's been his dream for years to become Hokage so he can shape the village as he sees fit. And to make matters worse, he despises the fal'Cie. He doesn't understand the desire to worship them and declares them to be false gods. I think Danzo's got some kind of god complex, believing himself to be a god in the making. If he had his way, everyone would be emotionless tools to be cast aside once they were no longer of use to him. He believes that his way is the only right way to run things. If he had his way, we'd always be at war until Konoha was the only village left standing. The 'superior' village, if you will."
Vanille frowned as she followed along, the others falling into step behind the Hokage as he led them to Naruto's new home. "It sounds like he'd like to see the fal'Cie die."
The aged Hokage nodded his head and said, "That's exactly what he wants. He doesn't want gods to rule over us. Danzo wants to see all fal'Cie die. Complete extermination. He doesn't seem to understand that we need the fal'Cie."
"That's horrible." Serah said, her expression expressing her sadness. "The fal'Cie may be different from us, but they're still living creatures. They deserve to exist just as we all do."
"Exactly." Hiruzen said. "Anyways, we're here."
Looking past the gate at what would be his new home, Naruto's eyes widened slightly and he found himself grinning. "I think I'm going to like living here."
Mabui stepped up at this point, smiling at her new master. "I'm looking forward to it as well, Naruto-sama."
Naruto suddenly found himself blushing as he realized that he'd be living alone with a girl. "U-Uh…yeah." He said dumbly.
Sazh couldn't help but grin as he slapped Naruto on the back. "Look at you, ya little charmer. Looks like fun times ahead." He teased.
The blonde slumped over and said, "Don't even joke about that. Please."
Hiruzen chuckled and motioned for Naruto to open the gate. Drawing blood, the blonde swiped it across the sealed gate and watched as it swung open. Crossing the threshold, he approached the front door of his new home and, after accepting the key from Hiruzen, he unlocked the door and went inside. The others followed him in, one by one.
Looking around, Sazh couldn't help but whistle in appreciation. "These are some fine digs you've got here, Naruto. Might have to bring Dajh here sometime and let him have some fun. He'd like having all this room to run around."
Naruto smiled at his best friend and said, "Yeah, I can see that." Looking around some more, he eventually turned his head to Mabui and said, "Let's go pick out our rooms. I'll take the master bedroom, of course. I hope you find a room that's to your liking."
The dark-skinned woman smiled at her new master and proceeded to follow him deeper into the home to try and find a room she might like. Once they were out of sight, Hiruzen turned to look at the other members of Team l'Cie, as he decided to call them. "If you want, I'm sure he'd let all of you move in as well."
Claire scoffed and shook her head. "No thank you. Serah and I have our own home. Besides that, I'd rather not live with a hormonal teenager."
Fang scowled at Claire again and said, "Seriously, what is your beef with him? Naruto seems like a good kid with a good head on his shoulders. I highly doubt he'd try anything untoward towards any of us."
Before Claire could respond, Serah stepped forward and sighed as she hung her head slightly. "It's my fault. I…was dating someone before. A man named Snow. We were together for a while, and I thought I loved him. But…Claire caught him flirting with other girls, even groping them when they thought nobody was watching. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he tried to flirt with Claire too. She clobbered the hell out of him, and I dumped him the next day."
Fang couldn't help but scowl deeper as she looked from Serah to Claire. "So you've come to believe that all men are pigs and can't be trusted. Is that it?"
Vanille frowned sadly and shook her head. "I understand your point of view, but Naruto-kun seems nice. And besides, with all he's been through already, I think he deserves a little trust in him."
Claire scowled and shook her head. "No thanks. Come Serah, let's go home. I don't want to stay here anymore."
The younger of the two pink-haired women sighed and shook her head in disappointment. However, without a word, she followed her sister out of the house, or rather mansion, and proceeded to leave the compound in its entirety.
Fang frowned deeply and shook her head in disbelief. "She's going to be a hard one to get along with."
Hiruzen sighed and said, "It would seem so. Hopefully she learns to get along with everyone, otherwise this team is bound to fall apart."
"True enough Gramps." Naruto said as he reentered the room with Mabui. "I got the gist of what was said. If need be, I'll avoid interacting with her. I'd rather we get along and be friends, but you can't always have what you want."
"Sadly." Hiruzen said, a frown on his face. "Anyways, I must be going. I have work to do, and then I'd like to call the council together. We have much to discuss, and I'd like for all of you to be there."
Naruto and the other members of Team l'Cie nodded and bid the Hokage goodbye. Afterwards, Naruto looked at Fang and Vanille and asked, "So what do you two want to do?"
Fang simply grinned at Vanille and threw an arm around her, hugging the younger woman close. "I think we'll go ahead and move in here with you. If we're going to be a team from now on, might as well stick close and get to know each other better, right?"
Vanille blushed slightly, but nodded all the same. "Who knows? It might be kind of fun."
When they looked her way, Tenten shook her head and said, "Nope, I'm not moving in with someone I barely know. Besides, my parents would never allow it. So I'll see you later Naruto."
As Tenten left, all eyes turned to Anko, who simply grinned at Naruto. "I think I'll move in too, Foxy-kun. Besides, it'll give me more time to properly train you up and make you the most kickass shinobi out there!"
Naruto chuckled softly and nodded in thanks. Things had certainly taken an interesting turn today, and he was quite eager to see what might come next.
A/N - As you can see, I made a bunch of characters l'Cie, including the ever lovable Snake Mistress of Konoha! lol.
Anyways, I'd like to think that this chapter turned out pretty well, but I'm sure some stuff's gonna annoy the hell out of people. *shrugs* After all, can't win 'em all. lol. I hope everything was interesting enough for you all, and I hope you're looking forward to more.
Not sure what else to say, so I'll just end this here. Lemme know what you think!